in 1998/2001 seventy murals have been realised, signs of change and also for a better way of life in One World.
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| Afrikafestival Osnabrück
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People on their way to work, to the mall, students heading for school, all encounter large colourful public pictures painted by artists, who came to Germany from places like Khayelitsha in South Africa, Afogados de Ingazeir in Brazil, Santiago de Cuba, from Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, the United States and Zimbabwe to contemplate with other artists and a variety of action groups over “Lokal Agenda 21” and the state of the world at the end of the millenium, and to paint the murals. In the next months the projects in the partner countries will be prepared.
These projects for many people were a first step towards personal experience to global thinking. The mural campaign and the cooperation with an artist from another continent is a stimulation and an offer to take part and to contribute ideas, and to impart these ideas further. The message of the wall paintings will be passed on, not only to local citizens, but as far away as Chile, where artists and action groups might also consider ways, for example, to paint the outside of a train in regard to the subject. Or the message will find its way to Cape Town, South Africa, when an artist returns home after working on a mural in Germany. He can explain to his friends and local initiatives what he has done there, and can also win them for a partnership project in their own country.
It was striking how many people actually did take part. In smaller communities like Hude or Alzey, there were probably very few people who did not notice the project developing. “Oh, you want to go to the mural initiation?” was the comment of the cab driver, after I arrived at the train station of the neighbouring community on my way to Dörverden.
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| Die Künstlerinnen
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Sports associations, schools, the fire department, citizen groups, agenda offices and other local institutions took part in the projects in many different ways. Many young people gave their share to the murals, kids supplied their own rough drafts or put forward their idea of the word in parallel painting activities.
Above all, the tremendous share of honorary work on the projects needs to be emphasized, the work of the One World groups, who are often supporters of these projects, the work of many helpers in the organization, as they accommodated the artists and looked after their needs, and also as they helped directly on the mural. Although financial support is gradually coming in from various sources, this kind of work amounts to the main part of the project.
Each project which has taken place so far has its own very extensive history which, even though we do talk about it here, cannot be portrayed in detail, simply because all of the meetings and conversations which accompany such a project would take much too much time and space.
( look "projects" )
